Baby Halo death: New charges for accused killer mom
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — NEWS10 has obtained a copy of Persia Nelson’s indictment and she faces a new charge, endangering the welfare of a child.
24-year-old Persia Nelson is accused of dropping her 10-month-old daughter, Halo Branton, down a pipe in Schenectady on March 9th. NEWS10's Zion Decoteau spoke with Nelson’s Public defender Stephen Signore about the new charge.
“I'm not surprised. I would expect them to have as many charges as they possibly could be related to the event" said Signore.
The new endangering the welfare of a child charge comes on top of an indictment on manslaughter and second-degree murder-with-depraved-indifference charges.
“So you mentioned endangering the welfare of a child okay? That might be the most easiest charge for them to present to the grand jury at this time because they're marshaling in all the other evidence for all the other cases for the higher charges" Mr. Signore said.
The public defender again gave a brief insight into his client’s current mindset: “Like I said, like a mother who found out that her child is dead" Signore told us.
But questions still loom about Nelson’s mental state the night of Halo’s disappearance — especially for the baby’s paternal grandfather Amar Keitt — whom NEWS10 spoke to before Nelson’s last court appearance.
“She was a mother of my granddaughter and grandson. You know she had love for them. I just ...sometimes...I just think about, I don't know...how would she hurt her child?" Keitt questioned on March 15th.
On March 9th, Nelson reportedly left a family gathering at a house on Campbell Avenue before wandering onto the GE campus where Halo was eventually discovered unresponsive. March 21st marks almost a week since Nelson was informed of her indictment, yet she has still not been brought before a county judge. Signorie says it's not uncommon for a case to take this long.
“There’s a protocol that has to be adhered to before they present it to a judge and have her arraigned on it, so it would not be surprising that they take the requisite amount of time that's necessary for the other," said Signorie.
District Attorney Robert Carney says the reason Nelson has not been brought before a county judge on this indictment, is because of the court’s schedule.